Australia needs tighter regulation on fruit and veg claims on packaged foods, a research body has claimed.
Cancer Council NSW alleges food firms are “squeezing the truth” when it comes to fruit and veg content claims on labelling. It found 48% of packaged products surveyed were seen to “glorify fruit and vegetable content” on the packaging, despite some having “as little as 13% fruit content”.
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The report looked at the nutrient make-up of the products, comparing the nutrient composition of the products carrying the claims, with the nutrient composition of the primary fruit and/or vegetable noted in each product.
Clare Hughes, co-author of the report, said: “What we found was that these products contained much less dietary fibre and much more energy, saturated fat, sugar and sodium than their fresh fruit or vegetable equivalent, making them a poor substitute for the real thing.”
Hughes said the number of nutritionally unhealthy products that contain fruit and vegetable claims on their packaging was “extremely concerning”.
“Dietary guidelines encourage Australians to eat two serves of fruit and five serves of vegetables each day, so food companies are cashing-in on this by clearly highlighting the fruit and vegetable content in their processed products. However, rather than helping to boost Australians’ fruit and vegetable intake, fruit and vegetable claims on packaging are encouraging them to choose highly processed and often unhealthy foods as a way of meeting their fruit and vegetable requirements.”
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By GlobalDataCancer Council NSW has called on the Australian government to strengthen the Food Standards Code which does not regulate fruit and veg claims on food labels.
